Cold Water Creek calling all teenagers

Dawn
All righty this is an official OTB pack hunt. This is backdated to after Naira and Aponi have their pups, before Serach would come into leadership. Anyone in/or who is going to be in OTB is welcome to join. Triell has found a herd of elk grazing by the creek the night before, and has told all who show how he had a hunt planned for the morning. So he is waiting for hunters to show up at dawn.
@Serach @Sahalie @Leotie @Kino @Kyna @Quentin @Darrah @Ruenna

 

Teenagers scare the living shit out of me

It had taken longer than he liked, but opportunity finally knocked on the door. Where the creek darted away from the trees, a herd of elk had settled near its bank to graze, and rest in the open where they could keep an eye on things. There was at least twenty head, and why he didn't see any fawns from his distance he was sure there was plenty of them too. The problem was when he had found them it had been too late to do anything so he had went back to the Bend to inform the others. They would hunt at dawn.

Perched on the edge of a hill, looking down through the trees he watched the herd. Triell was trying  to decide what one would be their best target. From this distance he wasn't sure. There were quite a few bulls with their velvet antlers, and the many mothers who would be protective of their young. But wasn't there an old one, or a yearling with little sense? Stretching his back, an impatient sigh fell from his nose. He had told them, but ultimately he left it to them to decide if they wanted to participate. Still he hated waiting. He already felt behind. He couldn't decide how to orchestrate this hunt yet. He wasn't looking forward to it. He couldn't decide what it was, but he had a feeling things wouldn't run smoothly or with ease. If anything he knew Serach would show, and ease his mind.

The feeding cycle was seemingly endless. Every time a cache was filled, a hungry mother devoured its contents and passed along the nourishment to their young ones. It had kept all the wolves of the Bend busy; there was both an instinctual drive and a pack-instilled duty for the rest of them who could to do everything in their power to help the young lives protected and fed. Serach had been no different from the rest of them. He could almost see the worn out path in the woods between the three dens that had felt like he was continuously traversing. So when Triell informed them that an elk herd had taken up residence in a nearby clearing, Serach was both grateful to get away from his path and be able to provide for his pack in a more substantial way than the measly rabbits and squirrels that had made up much of their diet as of late.

It's time, he thought as the first rays of sunlight began to lighten the sky above the eastern horizon. Pushing himself up from his sleeping position, he took a few moments to stretch his back and legs slipping into a forward bow. No point in hurting myself, he thought as he rose up, feeling the muscles pull satisfactorily. Setting off, he loped down to the clearing where Triell said he would be, using his nose to guide him. Now that he knew the herd was there, it was hard to miss their telltale scents or the signs they left behind and every step left a wider hole in his stomach that needed to be filled.

Seeking out Triell, Serach found the black-furred man waiting amongst the trees, looking down at the prospective quarry from a hilltop position. Loping up the hill, Serach gave a low chuff in greeting before taking up position at Triell's shoulder. Turning his attention to the herd below them, he couldn't help but let his eyes wander over them. Which one of them would it be?

I'd like to add for the record that I'm almost positive Darrah has been invited to pack hunts ooc in the past, numerous times i'm sure. But considering how little he valued life back in his youth, I think he probably would have  abruptly declined every last invite. He hated like.. everyone back then xD. My lil man's finally growin' up~

So soon after Darrah's return and things were already proving to be a bit hectic around the Bend. It was nothing like his last go, where there had been plenty of opportunity for leisure and goofing off. No, this time around there were new faces to get acquainted with, new duties to fulfill, and a tremendous load of puppies to look after. Not like that last bit bothered the Tainn, however. Children would always hold a soft spot in his heart, especially when they've started reaching their 'curious' stage. Though with more children meant more food that needed to be provided, which made Triell's proposition for a pack hunt more than just understandable.

Waking up at what he'd presumed to be a reasonable time, Darrah made his way out to the meeting destination that his father had picked one nights prior. It had appeared that he'd only been beaten by one other, much to his surprise. The Tainn had grown quite savvy with arriving late his last go, perhaps this time was sheer luck. "Hey." The raven grinned, positioning himself on his fathers free side. "It's been a while since I've been able to hunt anything bigger than a rabbit, this should definitely be interesting." In fact, the boy couldn't quite recall if he'd ever been given the opportunity to hunt something larger, though of course that was just a little to embarrassing to state so freely.

Celebrate the way the night hides scars.

Darrah Tainn

(This post was last modified: Jun 17, 2016, 12:51 PM by Darrah.)

At some point,

I started looking at the ground more than the sky

It’s hard even to breathe.

The guilt was eating her up like she was a rotten bag of maggots.

For the first time since arriving at the Bend, this glorious place, Ruenna had not slept well. The news which seemed to be received well by the others only formed a hard knot of panic in her gut, because what if they found her out? So desperate to be liked and prove that she deserved to be here, that she belonged here, in this place with these wolves, Rue had said nothing and just smiled and chirped her own enthusiasm for the plan.

They would hunt at dawn. Like, pack hunt. Like, more-than-two-wolves hunt. Like, something-big hunt.

Ruenna had no idea how to hunt in a group, let alone take down something bigger than a rabbit. Sure, she ate plenty of deer and caribou and goat, but none she'd ever killed herself! A benefit to being such a wanderer was that you had a much greater chance of coming across exciting things... and the likelihood of coming across the leavings of another predator's feast was so much higher when you walked many miles in a single day.

What if she messed everything up and they realised that she had absolutely no idea what she was doing, not with just the hunt but, like, with everything?

The need to impress Triell, Darrah and Sahalie was being quickly matched by an equal urge to please Serach, who was beginning to show Rue that family could mean more than just blood. That was her first lesson, one of a great many, she knew, and what scared her was that she didn't even know how many. Her library was a mess as she'd scattered open tomes on the floor to try and extract every scrap of knowledge which might help her not be quite so over-her-head, but the pages were full of fairy stories and the tales of wolves she had only met once and how many times she could run around the widest tree she'd ever seen before getting dizzy. All of it was completely useless right now, it didn't help her one bit, and she'd scoured through and subsequently tossed each book aside all night in feverish preparation.

So now she was tired and anxious, and on top of that had to work her very hardest to show none of it. Convinced she'd do something as stupid as get lost on the way to the meeting point, Rue had stalked Darrah the whole way there, knowing that her cousin wouldn't let her down. "Darrahhh," she hissed in playful greeting, dashing up to bump her shoulder into his rump. Coming to stand beside her age-mate, tail wagging low as she looked from Serach to Triell, seeing that wonderful black face made her heart burst all over again. She couldn't let herself mess this up, she just couldn't.

It was early when Leotie woke from her night’s sleep and stretched her muscles for the morning’s activities. The pack hunt was that morning and she was feeling a little nervous about it considering it would be her first pack hunt ever. Elk was their prey which she knew would do the pack good since they now had quite a few new mouths to feed but that knowledge did not how to quell the butterflies Leotie felt in the pit of her stomach. Sure she’d hunted sheep with Triell but then it had been just him and her and they’d had a definitive plan. There had also been the agreement that if things went south they would give up. This time the whole pack would be involved and there was room for something bad to happen. This knowledge worried Leotie but she had to go despite her reservations because her help in bringing the elk down would help the pack.

Leaving the communal den Leotie made her way to the agreed upon meeting place doing her best to keep her nerves under control. When she arrived Triell and Serach were already there as well as two wolves that she didn’t know very well. She offered a quiet, “Hello,” before she took up a position just behind the others. Now she supposed it was time to wait for any others to arrive, Leotie didn’t know how many were going to join them but she hoped the wait wouldn’t be too long. She thought the butterflies in her stomach were getting worse as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other.

(This post was last modified: Jun 17, 2016, 03:20 PM by Leotie.)

Please see Kajika's OOC profile for OOC preferences, thank you

   

Any opportunity at all to get out of pack grounds was a good opportunity in Kyna’s book.  With so many expectant mothers came an unreasonable amount of tohubohu – for while her own mother only gave birth to one pup, both alphas now had two cubs to care for a piece.  Perhaps more troubling was that Aponi was not the only single mother, for Speiden also raised her cubs alone.  Er, perhaps that was the wrong word.  Without a father, then, for it seemed Sahalie was often-times interested in helping out the swarthy woman.

Kyna could not say she felt any such desire to do the same for her own mother – she could hardly stand the wriggling mass that was meant to be her sister, much less spend any time beyond dropping off a morsel for Aponi whenever she’d gone hunting.

I won’t be like Celedine, she’d told herself – and here she was, isolating herself from the disarray.  That disorder included her mother, her mother’s daughter, and thus the fallen princess found herself very much alone.  So that there was to be a pack hunt in the earliest morning hours?  It was an invitation, one to perhaps relate to someone other than Sahalie, and Kyna found herself joining the small gathering.  Was she late?

The yearling cleared her throat softly, looking around at the others.  She recognized them, vaguely – but couldn’t say she’d interacted at all.  Clearly, things needed to change.  “Sorry if I’ve held you up.”

A wild dissertation appears!

There is a rabbit's nest nearby. +1 Health

 

Triell had come to him the day prior, telling him that he had spotted a large herd of Elk. A pack hunt would be held the next day, to which Kino replied that he’d be there. After the man had left, he found himself growing nervous for the hunt. He’d never participated in a pack hunt before, and didn’t know exactly how it worked. Of course, he assumed he wouldn’t be the only one in this situation given how many other yearlings were in the Bend but he never really knew for sure.  Maybe before he’d joined there had been a hunt, maybe he was the only one without any experience in the end? His nerves forced him to do a lap or so around the border at a jog, muscles tightening and expanding powerfully beneath his pelt. Any sign of baby fat on the boy was now gone due to his seemingly endless activity, always on his feet, always moving, always doing something because if he didn’t keep moving his past might catch up. A new name, a new home, and yet it was still always right over his shoulder.

That night he’d decided to sleep outside rather than in the communal den, beneath a tree who’s top was sparse enough that, if he laid on his back, he could see straight up to the starry sky. Kino had always been a night owl, and his mind drifted to when Minka would catch him outside the den at night staring up at the sky and then proceed to tell him stories that would eventually lull him to sleep. He assumed that she would carry him back into the den after that, because when he’d wake up the next day he was always inside and buried between his siblings against her. Slowly his eyes closed and he allowed the faint memory of her voice to echo in his mind, recalling it telling him a story that yet again put him to sleep even if she weren’t with him in body.

The faint rays of dawn woke him, their beams casting down and illuminating his desaturated pelt. He blinked groggily, rolling to his feet and allowing his maw to stretch open in a wide, whining yawn. Jaws clicked together with sharp teeth, tongue flickering out to lap across his dry nose before giving himself a good itch and shake to rid himself of debris. Then, he headed to where they would meet as a steady jog. When he’d arrived, Triell was there of course, along with Serach, Sahalie’s brother, the tear-drop woman, Leotie, and Kyna. It surprised him greatly to see that Hal wasn’t there yet, and he briefly grew worried. But, the small not in his stomach recoiled as he convinced himself that it was just because he was likely with Speiden and the children like she almost always was these days. Silver auds swiveled to catch Kyna’s words and he moved over towards her, dipping his head with a low chuff in greeting to Triell and Serach and a nod to the others. “I believe that blame is more on my part than yours,” he bemused, sitting down next to the fiery girl as they waited for instructions.

Thanks for joining. I was trying to do my research on elk here if you can't tell. lol Any way next round is July 5th.
@Serach @Leotie @Kino @Kyna @Darrah @Ruenna

 

Teenagers scare the living shit out of me

Bright eyes quickly shifted from one to the other elk looking for weakness. Serach, and then Darrah flanked him, and he acknowledged them each with a brief look, and a grin before going back to the herd. He was leaning toward the bull that appeared to be older, and a bit slower than the rest. As Rue's voice reached his ears he made sure to offer her a nod, and smile of warm greeting. Leotie received the same smile, and nod. She was a novice as well, but he was confident after their last hunt together she would be all right. Today, he had some forms of plans to help this all work out in the end.

He was going to introduce everyone, but figured he would give it a moment. He knew one more had given his word about coming. With his ears cupped forward he thought he heard someone coming. Sure enough, the bright ginger coat of Kyna caught his eye. The Tainn was pleased to see her join the group. Politely, she apologized, but it was Alastor's voice that answered. "No worries, you're all here and that's what matters. Now for all purposes. This is Ruenna, my niece, and this is my eldest son Darrah." He gestured to the two, feeling not everyone was on a name to name basis."Leotie, Kyna, and Alastor." He pointed his nose in their direction. "Now you can all think of this as an equal opportunity to learn. Serach and I have been at this, and when it's all over you will all have a better idea what it takes for larger game. Better...what kind of role you might take in this pack."

"Okay first things first. We always try to pick one that is weak. Sometimes they are sick, old, or have an injury ailing them. Or are young and inexperienced." There was a faint grin, as he looked about their circle. "Now they have some calves, but in a herd this large the cows are pretty brutal, and we need something larger. I want you all to look closely. In the future you'll need to be able to do this, and frankly it can mean the difference in success or failure. See how they are just kinda walking along grazing, gathered in various groups. See that one in the back over yonder. There's a bull who has a stiff walk out there. Though his antlers are still growing in velvet they are quite tall, letting me know he is indeed older. At this point those horns aren't fully hard like they soon will be. But, watch out if he drops his head, they can still pack a punch. Once he realizes what we are up to he will probably attempt to kick, and stomp anyone of you who gets too close. Understand?" Orange-yellow eyes made sure to bore down into those young ones, if they weren't taking this serious they better get with the program.

"We usually like to separate in groups. Those who chase, and those who catch. Usually it would be Search, and I catching. But, in this case we're gonna do it a little differently. Some of you will be with Serach, and some with me. We will all chase, but only Serach or me can make the end kill." While Alastor and Darrah were of the right size, they would have to watch and learn.

"So each group on one side, we will try to wear the bull down by herding him. He can't run forever, and unlike him we can trade off running full speed. While we are chasing him Serach and I might nip at him and draw blood. I don't expect any of you to do that. What matters most here is you guys get some experience, and keep your limbs intact. Understand how quick these things are. Eventually, it's best if we can steer him to the creek where it will get really hard for him to escape. Here's where you need to watch and listen. He will be tired, but he'll also know what happens if he doesn't get out of the creek. Do your best to keep him from getting away, but don't let him corner you. Don't attack till Serach or I make the first move. Rue, and Alastor with me. Darrah,Kyna, and Leotie with Serach." Taking in a heady breath after spewing out what seemed like a lot of damn information, he turned to his Second wondering if there was anything he would like to add. Then his gaze fell to the novices wondering what questions they may have, or if they were rethinking their morning plans.

(This post was last modified: Jun 29, 2016, 06:02 AM by Triell.)

are you with me through it all?

You can assume that if anybody had questions for Triell, Serach would have waited for them to ask and a response to be given before heading towards the herd. Feel free to PP him as running/hunting as necessary to keep the thread moving. :)

The dawn was rising fast, and as he scanned the herd ahead for any signs of disturbance. He barely looked to acknowledge his packmates as they arrived, his yellow eyes looking intently down on the elk. So far, they seemed ignorant of the wolves' presence, but that would change soon enough and then all bets were off. There was no telling what could happen down there, and as Triell called them to attention, the subordinate could not help but feeling his stomach drop as it came out that of those gathered, only the leader and himself had any real hunting experience with big game.

This is a bad idea, he thought as he looked at Triell, turning his gaze away only to look at the bull his uncle had selected as their target. Not for the first time since their departure from the Bend, Serach found himself missing @Drestig and @Jessie. He would feel far more confident if they were here to help guide the yearlings. But as Triell looked to him for any final words, all Serach could say was, "Good luck, and be careful. No creature wants to hunted, and cornered beasts don't behave rationally. Any one of those elk would rather get bitten than die, and if they think they can get away by charging straight at you, they will."

He looked again down at the herd and then back up at Triell before looking around at the younger wolves who had answered their leader's call. "You need to learn, Triell's right, but this isn't a game. So be smart and follow our lead." He wasn't entirely sure how he was meant to hunt and keep an eye on his charges, but that was the task he had been given and so he would do his best to accomplish it. "Ready?" He asked, looking to Darrah, Kyna, and Leotie. Satisfied that they would follow, the second began to move down the hill and towards the unsuspecting herd.